Thursday, March 5, 2009

. . . When it's good, it's really good . . . (Pizza - Part 2 of 3)

Continuing with our pizza saga, here is the sauce recipe that Gabriel used. We still have one container in the freezer which can be easily defrosted and used at short notice.

Freezer organization tip: Label all containers with contents and date. I do this by placing a piece of masking tape on the lip and writing on it with a Sharpie. This makes it easy to find without opening lids and it allows you to see, at a glance, what's been sitting in your freezer way too long. This can be done with freezer bags as well -- though you can see through those, the packaging date is always helpful.

Step 2 of 3: The sauce

You've made the dough, now you need to cover it with the red stuff. Yes, you could always used canned or bottled sauces but why not expend a tiny bit of extra energy and enjoy some delicious sauce that makes enough for six whole pizzas and freezes easily?

Pizza Sauce

Shopping List:

olive oil

onion

garlic

tomato paste (1 small can)

whole tomatoes (798 mL can)

oregano

Finely dice 1 small onion and prepare 3 cloves garlic, crushed.

Preheat a sauce pan over medium heat. Add 3 tbsp olive oil and the onion. Sauté the onion until it softens and begins to brown and then add the garlic and 1 can tomato paste. Sauté for a few more minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add 1 can of whole tomatoes. Purée the sauce with an immersion blender. Stir in 2 tbsp oregano.

Bring the sauce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered, until slightly thicken.

Divide sauce into three portions. Each portion can top two 9 inch pizzas. Unused portions can be frozen.